1950s Raleigh Bicycle
This bicycle belongs to my Grandfather, and I have spent the last few months upgrading it. It is not technically a restoration, because I used a lot of contemporary and new parts that are not original Raleigh parts. I have, however, tried my best to preserve the look and feel of the original bicycle.
I would not know what the original bicycle looks like. I have a vague idea that my Grandfather bought this in the 1950s or 1960s. Whether new or used, I have no idea. The Sturmey Archer rear hub is stamped with its year of manufacture, which was 1950, and the brazed on pulley for the gear shift cable marked this frame to be before 1957. So, while I cannot date the bicycle accurately, I know that most of it was from the 1950s.
When I started the upgrading project, the bicycle did not resemble any Raleigh model in the catalogue. It had a full chaincase, but had front and rear hub drum brakes. Furthermore, many parts on the bicycle were Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese parts that my Grandfather had replaced over the years. The only original English parts seem to be the frame, fork, mudguards, chaincase, crank, hubs, brake levers and the gear shifter.
At that point, I decided that I would upgrade the bicycle, while keeping the setup the same. I brought the bicycle to a workshop to have it stripped to be repainted. I returned in a few days to pick up the parts, so I can start hunting for them.
In this article, I use the term "contemporary" to describe parts that are from anytime from the 1950s to the 1970s and 1980s, where similarly styled bicycles remained to be produced in Japan, Taiwan, China and other places. The term "new" is reserved for retro parts that are produced in the recent years.
The original badge was rusted and the details were lost. I got this badge and light holder on eBay for a song. I touched up the paint on the badge. We decided to attach the badge with small screws because the mechanic did not have the tools to rivet the badge in.
I managed to find original Raleigh new-old-stock (NOS) replacements for most the headset. I had to reuse two of the pieces. Bicycles of that era were all handmade, and while NOS parts might be available, they tended not to fit perfectly. Shims had to be made for some parts of the headset.
The bicycle came with a 1960s Sturmey Archer gear shifter, which was very rusty. Since other parts of the bicycle was from the 1950s, I suspect that the shifter was not the original. The shifter I am using now is from the 1970s, and have a plastic cover over it. I hope to find a 1950s shifter in good condition someday.
The brake levers are contemporary Japanese copies of Raleigh levers. The Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese have been making compatible parts into the 1990s, so they can still easily be found in this part of the world.
The North Road handlebar is a new Chinese made chrome bar. Fitted on it are new white grips from Finland, which I found online.
My original Sturmey Archer front brake hub was in a very bad condition, so I decided to replace it. The replacement is a contemporary Japanese copy, it works and looks great. There are also Chinese copies but they are of dubious quality.
I kept the original Sturmey Archer rear gear and brake hub. This is the heart of the bicycle, and it was in a servicable condition. The chrome had all but rusted off, so I had it sprayed in silver. The internals were serviced and some parts were replaced. It runs as smooth as I remember it 20 years ago, when my Grandfather carried me on the bicycle.
Brake cables are probably contemporary Asian copies, although they might be original Raleigh parts.
The bicycle originally had a China-made plastic saddle styled like the leather Brooks saddle. I decided to splash out for an original leather Brooks seat for this upgrading.
In the same photograph, you can see the pulley for the gear shift cable. I kept the original pulley because the metal pulleys are almost impossible to come by nowadays, even on the eBay.
I managed to find an original Raleigh NOS sprocket. If you look through the window in the chaincase, you can see part of the heron on the sprocket. The sprocket was very warped and it took myself and the mechanic some time to solve the problem of the sprocket throwing the chain. The pedals are made in China.
The chaincase has many dents that was collected over the years. It would have taken too much time and effort to push out all the dents, so I decided to just repaint the chaincase as is. I added a new element to the design by painting a white pencil-thick line on parts of the chaincase and mudguard.
The bicycle had a kick stand attached to the rear axle, I installed a new kick stand that attaches to the chainstays near the bottom bracket. It was made in Taiwan.
I managed to find original Raleigh NOS replacements for most of the bottom bracket parts.
The rear reflector is a CatEye from Japan. It is possibly contemporary of that period, because CatEye was set up in 1947 after the War. The white dove tail is a feature that I had to have in the paint job. A pencil thick white line runs along the ridge of both mudguards.
The 26x1 3/8 gumwall tyres are from Taiwan. They are decades old, and I am not sure how much life I will have out of this pair. I hope to find nice replacements soon.
I'll like to thank everyone at the following establishments for making this project possible:
The Rebound Centre for assembly, stripping and repainting of the bicycle
Address: Block 1013 Geylang East Avenue 3 #05-126, Singapore 389728
Telephone: (65) 6743 9474
Email: reboundc@pacific.net.sg
Song Seng Chan for replacement parts and servicing
Address: 434 Joo Chiat Road, Singapore 427648
Telephone: (65) 6344 0690
Facsimile: (65) 6345 2669
Gee Hin Chan & Co. Pte. Ltd for replacement parts
Address: Block 261 Waterloo Street #01-06, Singapore 180261
Telephone: (65) 6337 2948, (65) 6338 1270
Facsimile: (65) 6336 4924
Email: bicycle_supermart@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.geehinchan.com
The Old Bicycle Company for replacement parts
Website: http://www.theoldbicycle.co.uk/
Sheldon Brown for the greatest online resource of old bicycles
Website: http://sheldonbrown.com/
© 2004-2006 Michael Sng Woei Shyong. All Rights Reserved.